‘My Hero Academia’ Season 8 Episode 3 review: “The Final Boss!”

If we’re going on the sheer spectacle and visuals alone, there’s no doubt that My Hero Academia Season 8 Episode 3 is the best the series has ever looked. Riding on an adrenaline high, “The Final Boss!!” delivers a high-octane episode in honor of its star as Katsuki Bakugo (Nobuhiko Okamoto) – sorry, Kacchan Bakugo – becomes the hero so many believed him to be possible from the start. Aided by a tremendous team of artists delivering their absolute best and clever, cinematic direction, it is immediately clear that this will go down as a series highlight.

It’s always worth remembering that, at the very start of the series, Katsuki Bakugo is an enormous pest. A teenager with a testy temper, our first introduction to him is as he relentlessly bullies the protagonist. This is important. Because it is no small feat that, despite his unseemly origins, he becomes one of the series’ most fantastic characters. The writing for him is near unparalleled (second only to Midoriya (Daiki Yamashita) himself) as he learns his shortcomings, owns his mistakes, and tries to find a sense of comeuppance.

This is part of why My Hero Academia Season 8 Episode 3 is such an undeniable success. Because we’ve seen the hints of character growth in the early seasons that transformed as the world grew darker around them. We saw as he began to view Midoriya as a rival, rather than an underling, before fully accepting him as a friend. Then he sacrificed himself, again and again, and apologized. He more than earns his moment in the pain-bespeckled sun, and it’s that growth, that tireless pursuit of change, that makes the third episode of the final season a peak for the series as a whole.

Bakugo gets the full hero treatment in “The Final Boss!!”

Because it’s not uniformly common for anime to achieve this balance, where the character growth is so tirelessly earned, the writing takes pains to give him nearly as much development as the main protagonist. The growth works because we’ve seen the entire arc, and this is just one last stop in his full-circle moment. In previous seasons, the image of a young Midoriya holding his hand out to Bakugo haunted the latter’s memory as some wrongly perceived indictment of weakness. In My Hero Academia Season 8 Episode 3, he takes the free-fall straight to Midoriya’s beckoning grasp, the two working in tandem – the outstretched hand no longer proof of shortcomings, but the promise of greatness.

“The Final Boss!!” wastes little time in devolving into a cacophony and color that embraces the chaotic energy of Bakugo’s characterization. Bloodied and only just revived from the dead by his own quirk awakening (and a pretty committed assist from Edgeshot), the creative team gleefully delivers his deserved, peak hero moment. We get every version of the character of him that has made him such a fan favorite throughout the course of the series. Foul-mouthed and enraged, arrogant and assured, and perceptive on the battlefield. But we also see how he’s grown softer around the edges, humanized, as he genuinely smiles at All Might (Kenta Miyake) when his hero offers him the last of his suit to stabilize his arm.

And, perhaps most notable, is the shift right at the very end when, in a fit of mind-scrambling rage, All for One (Hiroshi Kamiya) mistakenly calls Bakugo by the wrong name, Kudo (the second One for All user). To which Bakugo mocks, before calling himself Kacchan Bakugo.

The dynamic between Midoriya and Bakugo is the heart of the series.

You can’t watch all eight seasons or read all 400+ chapters of My Hero Academia and not care about the development of Midoriya and Bakugo’s dynamic. They are the emotional anchor of the series as their paths diverge and then come together, their fight and save style becoming the thematic core of what heroics mean in this world. Bakugo’s growth rests largely on how he reacts and treats Midoriya. So yes, it matters that he not only finally accepts Midoriya’s childhood nickname but does so in a declarative, sweeping moment. He’s fully embraced this version of himself.

All of these beats give Episode 3 a heightened emotional pulse as Bakugo – with Midoriya’s help – launches through the sky to save All Might. Because while the narrative is strong, it’s the visuals that truly deliver the dizzying, jaw-dropping parade of excellence. The artists on board are noteworthy for their efforts in other series-defining moments, and those influences ring true in how the battle unfolds, taking over the entire city.

Even beyond the explosions of color and light shows, as Bakugo’s quirk manifests in pockets of fireworks as he uses the pain-induced sweat to guide his way, it’s the direction. The presentation is clean and cohesive, time seeming to stall out when Bakugo and Midoriya first catch the others’ eye before leaping into a near choreographed leap. The direction highlights the feeling of aerial free fall as Bakugo races through the skies in his determined, single-minded effort to reach All Might in time.

The series has never looked better.

This energy flows throughout his fight with All for One, as he manages to catch up with shocking speed. For so long, the anime has been content to rest on the – admittedly great – work of Kohei Horikoshi. “The Final Boss!!” ups the ante and utilizes all of the tools at the medium’s disposal to amplify the effect of this sprinting battle. Bruising and relentless, it speaks to the spirit of what makes the series such a joy in the first place.

Because, ultimately, My Hero Academia is about those overlooked and how we might harness any strength to be better, stronger, and kinder. There’s a reason Nighteye’s words ring as All Might lay without the eyesight of the formers predicted, grizzly death. It takes belief in one’s power – faith in one’s self – to change the threads of fate. All Might sees this happen, just as Nighteye did when Midoriya saved Eri – through Bakugo as his will pushes him well beyond the expectations of those around him.

There’s no overselling the herculean efforts that burst from the screen in My Hero Academia Season 8 Episode 3. Directed by Nanami Michibata and Michiru Itabisashi, here is a breathless display of what happens when time, effort, and patient character growth culminate, pulsating with tangible emotional payoff. With crisp animation, a stellar score and voice work, superb character expressions, and a thundering heart at its core, this is the series at its peak. We can only hope the final season can maintain this joyous momentum.

My Hero Academia Season 8 Episode 3 is available now on Crunchyroll, with new episodes released every Saturday.

Images courtesy of Studio Bones.

Allyson Johnson

Based in New England, Allyson is co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of InBetweenDrafts. Former Editor-in-Chief at TheYoungFolks, she is a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics and the Boston Online Film Critics Association. Her writing has also appeared at CambridgeDay, ThePlaylist, Pajiba, VagueVisages, RogerEbert, TheBostonGlobe, Inverse, Bustle, her Substack, and every scrap of paper within her reach.